Video teleconferencing systems have few or no privacy controls. For example, a person being viewed by another person at a remote location typically controls the privacy by turning off the camera, placing a lens cap on the camera and/or exiting the viewing range of the camera. Also, even if a local user is intending to be viewed by a remote user, the local user cannot control the viewing of any objects behind the user and/or any additional sounds in proximity to the user.
Video teleconferencing systems can be awkward and a potential liability in some environments (e.g., a home), since it is often not obvious and/or intuitive to a user that a video teleconferencing system is transmitting signals (e.g., audio/visual) to a remote location. For example, a user might not be able to determine what is displayed to a remote user. The user may be unaware that the camera is capturing images of the user. Likewise, a user might also be unable to determine that a microphone is capturing audio.
The drawings referred to in this description should be understood as not being drawn to scale except if specifically noted.